The Forgotten Victim
by pawpad
Summary: After Starsky woke up in Sweet Revenge he never said anything, this bothered me so I wrote a little scene set after Gunthers arrest, but before the tag.


The Forgotten Victim  
  
Hutch parked the car in the same spot he had driven out of not so long ago. Instead of exiting the car like he planned he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. He was so tired. It seemed like months had gone by since the last time he slept or ate. He had been running on sheer determination and heart, but he had come to the end finally. Gunther had been arrested and was now waiting trial and the best news of all was his partner was awake.  
  
Hutch allowed himself to smile, another thing he hadn't done in a while. He decided not to waste anymore time sitting around and climbed out of the car.  
  
The hospital was much the way he had left it, still smelling of that stuff that all hospitals had. It was late at night, so there were less nurses and doctors around. Hutch made his way over to the elevator and let it carry him up to the ICU floor. He took another moment to rest his head against the wall, his mind drifting back to a moment not long ago when he had done the same thing and had uttered the words. "Starsky's gonna die" The sheer relief he felt from knowing that those words he had spoken were wrong was more than he could ever express in words or actions. The elevator gave its usual ping to announce the stop and Hutch pushed himself away from the wall and walked out of the elevator.  
  
The ICU was a little more busy which considering it was where most of the critical patients were didn't surprise Hutch as he made his way down the corridor. As he walked he recognised a few nurse from earlier, which made him wonder just how long their shifts were.  
  
Halfway down the corridor Hutch saw Captain Dobey making his way towards him, a coffee up in one hand and a smile on his face.  
  
"How did it go?" He asked, the two men stopping in front of each other. Hutch ran a hand over his tired face.  
  
"Took him down by the book Cap," He said with a ghost of a smile. Dobey nodded.  
  
"Good, now get your butt in that room" He tried to bellow, but didn't quite manage.  
  
"Has he been asking for me?" Hutch asked. Dobey shook his head.  
  
"He's hardly been a wake long enough. He's been pretty much out of it since you left"  
  
Something about that made Hutch uncomfortable, but he reminded himself that before he left Starsky was wake and had even smiled at him.  
  
"Right, well, I better get in there" He said in low voice. Dobey gave his officer a brief squeeze on the shoulder before letting him continue on his way.  
  
Hutch found the room he had left his partner in and was glad to see him still laying there. With his head turned away from him it was hard for Hutch to tell if he was asleep, so he made his way to the other side of the bed and found to his disappointment that Starsky was still asleep. It seemed like so long ago that Hutch last heard his partners voice and he needed to hear it now. Even if he said something small, or if he called his name at least that would be something. The silence and the stillness Hutch had witness after the shooting had unnerved him so much. He was never going to believe entirely that Starsky was going to be all right until he heard his friend say something.  
  
Hutch took a seat by the bed and clasped his hands together and rested them between his thighs. He felt a familiar pinch of déjà vu, but he pushed it aside. Starsky was no longer in a coma he was just sleeping naturally. The sight of the tubes and IV's made Hutch a little uncomfortable, but he knew they were needed. He pushed past them all and just watched his partner sleep.  
  
He wasn't aware that he had fallen asleep until he heard a slight moan and his eyes shot open. Hutch took a moment to remind himself where he was, but he caught on when he took a long whiff of the room. That clean hospital aroma was like a smelling salt.  
  
Hutch sat up in his chair, wincing a little at the ache in his lower back. He thought he would have gotten used to sleeping in uncomfortable positions considering all the practise he had gotten on stakeouts.  
  
He heard the moan again and he realised that it was coming from Starsky. For a split second he feared something was wrong, but as his eyes settled on the figure in the bed he was relived to see blue eyes staring up at him. Hutch smiled.  
  
"Hey buddy," He said as he pushed his chair closer to the bed. "Finally decided to join me" Starsky smiled slightly, but his eyes wondered over the room, coming to rest on the IV in his arm.  
  
"You were shot" Hutch said, almost choking on the last word. "Do you remember" Starsky frowned as he considered the question. It took him a moment, but he finally nodded.  
  
"But you're going to be fine" Hutch said with the most reassuring smile he could muster. Starsky raised his hand slightly and gestured weakly for Hutch to come closer. Hutch pushed his chair as far as it would go and leaned over the rail.  
  
"Yeah?" Starsky gestured for him to come even closer, his hand slumping on the bed from exhaustion. Hutch stood up and leaned over his friend, so his ear was inches from Starsky's mouth.  
  
"Go ahead" Starsky took a moment to lick his dry lips, but has he did he rose up off the pillow slightly and licked Hutch's ear. Hutch jumped back and immediately wiped his ear.  
  
"That's disgusting Starsk" He said harshly. Starsky only smiled at his friend's unhappiness. He gestured for him to come back, but Hutch refused to move.  
  
"No way buddy, whatever you have to say I can hear you from here" Starsky's smile vanished and he slowly shook his head on the pillow. Hutch's expression softened a little and he made his way back to the bed.  
  
"You better say something this time" He lowered his ear back to Starsky's mouth and waited for his friend to speak but when he did it was barely a whisper.  
  
"How's...my...c-car?" Hutch remained leaning over the bed, waiting to see if there was anymore, but that was it. He turned his head so he was staring directly down at his friend, to check if he was joking, but the expression on his face told he was very serious. Hutch actually smiled. He tried to wipe it off and look serious, but it didn't want to budge.  
  
"I'm afraid it took quite a hit, Starsk," He said trying to sound sincere. "The window was shattered and it...um" He had to stop. His smile vanished and the memory of the event hit full force and he felt a tear sting his eye. Starsky's eyes were barely open and he didn't notice.  
  
"Do you...think it'll" He paused. The simple sentence draining all his energy till his voice was little more than a breath "Ever run...again" He finally managed to get out. Hutch pushed back the tear and found the ability to smile again.  
  
"It'll need some bodywork and a new paint job, but after that I'm sure it'll be back to being an eye sore" Starsky frowned at the last comment.  
  
"Can't even give a...injured guy...a break" He managed to say before his eyes closed from exhaustion. Hutch smiled and ran a hand gently over Starsky's hair, careful not to disturb him in case he'd fallen asleep.  
  
Suddenly he felt Starsky's hand grip his own hand tightly and his eyes shot open. Hutch didn't need to ask what was wrong, he could tell from the look in his partners' eyes.  
  
"Hey buddy, just relax, take it easy" Starsky's breath came hard and fast, which appeared to add to the pain he was already in. Hutch reached for the call button above the bed, but his fingers barely grazed it before a nurse came in.  
  
"The pain meds must be warring off" She said matter-of-factly.  
  
"Can you give him some more" Hutch asked. The nurse picked up the chart at the end of Starsky's bed and ran her eyes over it.  
  
"I'm afraid not, not for another ten minutes I'm afraid" Hutch was startled by her answer. The pressure on his hand increased and he looked back down at his partner. His face had gone completely white and sweat was running down his face.  
  
"He's in pain, can't you see that," He yelled. The nurse seemed unfazed by his outburst and placed the chart back on the bed. "I'm sorry but we can't risk overdosing him" She said before turning to go. Hutch turned his attention back to his hurting friend.  
  
"It'll be all right buddy, just hang in there for a bit" He said, his voice soft and soothing. Starsky closed his eyes tightly for a moment, trying to get his erratic breathing under control, but even that hurt like Hell.  
  
"So...you think my car's an...eye sore huh" He managed to say through clenched teeth. Hutch was thrown back for a moment, not sure if he had heard right. He gave his partner a bewildered look and was about to ask Starsky to repeat what he had said, but Starsky's eyes opened and the pleading look he gave Hutch was enough to make him understand.  
  
"I'm afraid so" He said with a small smile "In fact it's so bad I was thinking of taking it down to the scrap yard, put it out of it's misery" Starsky's eyes went wider than Hutch had seen in days. "You wouldn't"  
  
"Well you won't be driving it for a while" Starsky grunted.  
  
"Well while...you're down there...you can" He stopped so he could build back his strength to continue. "You can see if you have one...that matches your car" Hutch suppressed a smile the best he could.  
  
"You know I was just kidding, but now I think I'll have to go ahead with my plan, I'll just go tell Dobey to get someone to do it" Starsky's gripe on Hutch's hand got tightened and he glared up at Hutch. For a moment Hutch swore he saw no pain in his partner's eyes, but in a flash it was back.  
  
"You so much as...move and I'll kill you" Hutch pulled his hand out of Starsky's gripe and edged towards the door.  
  
"If you're going to threaten me then..." Starsky reached for Hutch's hand, but he was too weak to reach that far so he resorted to glaring at Hutch as harshly as he could. "You're really a...bastard at times" Hutch smiled.  
  
"I do my best" He edged closer to the door, not looking where he was going and nearly bumped into the nurse who had come in to administer more pain medication. "Stop that man" Starsky croaked. The nurse glanced at Hutch, but didn't stop until she was right beside Starsky.  
  
"Here we go, this should help the pain and help you sleep" She emptied the syringe she was carrying into the IV.  
  
"No...we're not finished yet" Hutch went back to Starsky side and placed a hand on his arm.  
  
"It's all right buddy, you know I would never do anything to your car" He paused.  
  
"Not on purpose anyway" Starsky tried to keep his angry gaze on Hutch, but the effects of the drugs were starting to kick in and his eyelids got so heavy he could barely keep them open.  
  
"You're...mean," He whispered. Hutch leaned over his friend and took his hand.  
  
"Go to sleep Starsk, we'll talk more about it later, after I'm done at the scrap yard" With the remaining energy Starsky had he dug his finger nails as hard as he could in Hutch's hand. Hutch smiled at the effort and waited for his partner to fall asleep until he took a look at his hand. There were tiny nail shaped dents in them, but they only made Hutch's smile grow. His partner was back all right, and he had the marks to prove it.  
  
The End. 


End file.
